Tigers blank Wheat Kings for consecutive shutout wins

By James Tubb on March 1, 2025.

Saturday nights may be for fighting but it was all about saves for the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Medicine Hat net minder Harrison Meneghin stopped all 26 shots he faced for the 5-0 shutout win, his third blank-spot of the season. It’s a second consecutive shutout win for the Tigers, with Jordan Switzer making 36 saves Friday in a 2-0 win at Regina over the Pats, for his third-straight shutout.

The Tigers opened the scoring a little over the halfway point of the opening period.

Ethan Neutens carried the puck in the Brandon end, sending a pass to Oasiz Wiesblatt who fired shot backhand shots on starter Carson Bjarnason, scoring on the second chance. Ryder Ritchie had the second assist on Wiesblatt’s first of the night and the 1-0 lead at 10:03. They led by the single tally after 20 minutes, outshooting Brandon 12-5.

The Tigers offence went full throttle in the first 20 minutes of the middle frame, finding the back of the net three times.

Just 1:34 into the stanza, Mat Ward had the puck along the boards and skated to the middle of the ice and spun to fire a shot from the point. His shot beat Bjarnason for his 16th of the season, with Tyson Moss and Misha Volotovskii recording the assists.

They found the back of the net 1:34 later, with a laser of a shot off the stick of Ritchie. The Minnesota Wild prospect skated into the Brandon end and curled and dragged the puck before firing it on net, with Wiesblatt tipping the puck past the Wheat King net minder for the 3-0 lead. Ritchie and Carter Cunningham had the assists on Wiesblatt’s 31st of the season.

The explosive first-half of the period finished off with a rebound goal from Liam Ruck. The 16-year-old picked up the loose puck off the pad of Bjarnason, roofing it into the net for the 4-0 lead at 9:58 and his 19th of the season. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and Cunningham had the assists.

Medicine Hat outshot Brandon 12-11 in the period.

The Tigers scored late in the third period with a goal coming from the blue line. Tigers’ forward Marcus Pacheco, working as a defenceman for a third-straight game, danced the blue line for a couple strides before throwing a puck on net. He beat Ethan Eskit, who took over for Bjarnason, for his third goal in the last four games and 13th of the season. Markus Ruck and Gordon-Carroll had the assists on the goal as the Tigers’ led 5-0 with 3:43 left in the game.

Bjarnason was lifted to start the third period, making 20 saves in the loss. Eskit stopped seven shots.

They held on for the shut-out win, securing the blank spot for Meneghin, his third of the season. Medicine Hat outshot the Wheat Kings 32-26 and won the face-off battle 26-23. Neither team scored on the power play, with the Wheat Kings 0-4 and Tigers 0-3. With the win, the Tigers win the season series with the Wheat Kings 3-1.

The Tigers (41-17-3-1) are off until Tuesday when they host the Kelowna Rockets at Co-op Place.